Volume 4, Issue 6, June 2014 ISSN: 2277 128X

International Journal of Advanced Research in

Computer Science and Software Engineering
Research Paper
Available online at: www.ijarcsse.com
Big Data and Current Cloud Computing Issues and Challenges
OlukunleA Iyanda
Vice President, Dev. & Strategy,
Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo,
Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract – This paper introduces a detailed analysis of between big data and cloud computing security issues and
challenges focusing on the cloud computing types and the service delivery types. Big data is a data analysis methodology
enabled by recent advances in technologies and architecture. However, big data entails a huge commitment of hardware
and processing resources, making adoption costs of big data technology prohibitive to small and medium sized businesses.
Cloud computing is a set of it services that are provided to a customer over a network on a leased basis and with the ability
to scale up or down their service requirements. It advantages includes scalability, resilience, flexibility, efficiency and
outsourcing non-core activities. It offers an innovative business model for organizations to adopt it services without
upfront investment irrespective of the potential gains achieved from the cloud computing, the organizations are slow in
accepting it due to the security issues and associated challenges security is one of the major issues which hamper the
growth of cloud. The use of big data could provide sufficient benefit to a small to medium sized company to the extent that
the business would be willing to commit resources to implement big data technology in-house. However, the level of
benefit is difficult to determine without some experience.

Keywords – Cloud Computing, Scalability, Infrastructure, IT.

I. INTRODUCTION
The concept of cloud computing originated in early 1960s, when John McCarthy an American computer scientist predicted
the eventual convergence of computing infrastructure, which would allow a great degree of versatility in the distribution of IT
resources in order to meet fluctuating and unpredictable business demands. It is an extremely successful paradigm of service
oriented computing which has revolutionized the way computing infrastructure is abstracted and used.
The popularity and versatility of the internet enabled companies like Amazon to modernized their data centers and adopt the
cloud architecture which allowed them to outsource computing power to external customers. This service was later launched
in 2006, after which numerous companies took the initiative to create cloud-based infrastructure.
Cloud Computingis a term used to describe a new class of network based computing that takes place over the Internet or a
model that relies on a large, centralized data center to store and process a great wealth of information[1].
It can be defined as a collection of integrated and networked hardware, software and Internet infrastructure called a platform
i.e. using the Internet for communication and transporting hardware, software and networking services to clients. This
platform hides the complexity and details of the underlying infrastructure from users and applications by providing very
simple graphical interface or API (Applications Programming Interface) and also provides on-demand services that are
always on, anywhere, anytime and anyplace.
It is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g.,
networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management
effort or service provider intervention. Computing power and storage space is provided on-demand to companies that
outsource their IT management to the cloud service provider.
Cloud computing is a way to increase the capacity or add capabilities dynamically without investing in new infrastructure,
training new personnel, or licensing new software. But as more and more information are placed in the cloud, concerns begin
to grow about the security of the cloud environment. Security issues in cloud computing has played a major role in slowing
down its acceptance. This work is a survey more specific to the different security issues and the associated challenges that has
emanated in the cloud computing system.

II. CLOUD COMPUTING SERVICE DELIVERY MODELS

Cloud deployment solutions provide services that businesses would otherwise not be able to afford under the traditional
hardware and software acquisition method. Cloud computing revolutionizes the way information is handled, the typical
deployment models for cloud computing includes: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), software as
a service (SaaS) and hardware as a service (HaaS).

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Software/
Application

Platform

Infrastructure

Fig. 1. Cloud Computing Service delivery models

i. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS):-

In the infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) model, consumers are given full freedom to manage their data on the server. Here the
service provider is only responsible for raw storage, computing power, networks, firewalls, and load balancers and this is
often manifested as a virtual machine. A client business pays on a per-use basis whenever the equipment is used to support
computing operations such as: storage, hardware, servers, and networking equipment [2]. Infrastructure as a service is a cloud
computing model that has received most attention from the market, with an expectation of 25% of enterprises planning to
adopt a service provider for IaaS [3]. Services available to businesses through the IaaS model include disaster recovery,
computing as a service, storage as a service, data center as a service, virtual desktop infrastructure, and cloud bursting, which
is providing peak load capacity for variable processes (Cisco, 2009). Benefits of IaaS include increased financial flexibility,
choice of services, business agility, cost-effective scalability, and increased security.

ii. Platform as a service (PaaS):-

Platform as a Service is a level above Infrastructure as a service (IaaS). In the PaaS model, consumers are provided with an
operating system, programming language execution environment, database, and web server. They are not concern with the
cost and management in the hardware and software layers. PaaS is the use of cloud computing to provide platforms for the
development and use of custom applications [4]. The PaaS solutions include application design and development tools,
application testing, versioning, integration, deployment and hosting, state management, and other related development tools
[5]. Businesses attain cost savings using PaaS through standardization and high utilization of the cloud-based platform across
a number of applications [6]. Other advantages of using PaaS includes: lowering risks by using pretested technologies,
promoting shared services, improving software security, and lowering skill requirements needed for new systems
development [7]. As related to big data, PaaS provides companies a platform for developing and using custom applications
needed to analyze large quantity of unstructured data at a low cost and low risk in a secure environment. Therefore
maintaining the integrity of applications and enforcing accurate authentication checks during the transfer of data across the
entire networking channels is fundamental.

iii. Software as a Service:-

Software as a service (SaaS) is the level above Platform as a service (PaaS). In this model, consumers are given access only
to the application software, which can be run remotely from the data centers of the cloud service provider. The provider is
responsible for the maintenance and support of the infrastructure and operating platforms i.e. it provides businesses with
applications that are stored and run on virtual servers in the cloud [8], Since cloud service providers specialize in one area,
they can provide reliable service at a fraction of the cost. The business is not charged for hardware, only for the bandwidth
for the time and number of users necessary. The main advantage of SaaS is that this solution allows businesses to shift the
risks associated with software acquisition while moving IT from being reactive to proactive [9]. Benefits of using SaaS
include: easier software administration, automatic updates and patch management, software compatibility across the business,
easier collaboration, and global accessibility [10].
Software as a Service provides companies analyzing big data proven software solutions for data analysis. The difference
between SaaS and PaaS in this case is that SaaS does not provide a customized solution whereas PaaS will allow the
company to develop a solution tailored to the company’s needs (could we change this to: whereas PaaS allows clients to
develop a customized solutions based on their specific needs?) . SaaS is becoming an increasingly prevalent delivery model
as underlying technologies that support web services and service-oriented architecture (SOA) mature and new developmental
approaches become popular. SaaS is also often associated with a pay-as-you-go subscription licensing model. Meanwhile,
broadband service has become increasingly available to support user access from more areas around the world. SaaS is most
often implemented to provide business software functionality to enterprise customers at a low cost while allowing those
customers to obtain the same benefits of commercially licensed, internally operated software without the associated

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complexity of installation, management, support, licensing, and high initial cost. The architecture of SaaS-based applications
enabled multi-tenancy (specifically designed to support many concurrent users. at once). SaaS applications are accessed using
web browsers over the Internet therefore web browser security is vitally important. Information security officers will need to
consider various methods of securing SaaS applications. Web Services (WS) security, Extendable Markup Language (XML)
encryption, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and available options which are used in enforcing data protection transmitted over the
Internet.

iv. Hardware as a service (HaaS):-

HaaS is not yet widely used but it is a cloud service based upon time sharing model on minicomputers and mainframes from
the 1960s and 1970s [11], contrarily to the SaaS and PaaS that provide applications and services to the customers, HaaS
offers only the hardware. Time sharing developed into the practice of managed services [11]. In a managed service situation,
the managed service provider (MSP) remotely monitors and administers hardware located at a client’s site as contracted [12].
A problem with managed services was the necessity for some MSPs to provide hardware on-site for clients, the cost of which
needed to be built into the MSP’s cost [12]. The HaaS model allows the customer to license the hardware directly from the
service provider which alleviates the associated costs [12]. Vendors in the HaaS arena include Google with its Chromebooks
for Business, CharTec, and Equus [13].
However, as cloud IT solutions are becoming more widespread and accepted the potential markets for cloud are also
expanding rapidly. Big data cloud alone is not a business solution but an IT tool. Historically companies have learned how to
outsource certain elements to streamline their processes. Cloud computing is the next step that allows outsourcing of IT,
instead of maintaining their own IT department with physical servers and technical specialists companies hires a cloud
service company to provide all its IT hardware needs.
In addition cloud computing allows computing to be treated as a commodity. In the past a company in need of computing
power and storage is required to purchase its own processors and servers and maintain them. Idle capacity and economic
waste is recorded whenever those IT resources are not in use. However, with the advent of cloud computing, a company can
purchase its exact computing needs. If maximum computing power is only needed occasionally the company does not have to
pay for those IT resources to just stay idle. The outsourcing inherent in cloud computing reduces the cost of maintaining IT
and that reduction in cost is the bottom line benefit. That benefit is not limited to companies needing business applications.
Cloud computing has a variety of potential applications in other fields that can potentially be explored.

III. BIG DATA AND THE CLOUD

The term big data is derived from the fact that the datasets involved are so large that typical database systems are not able to
store and analyze the datasets. The datasets are large because the data are unstructured data and are from many new sources,
including e-mail, social media etc. The characteristics of big data present data storage and data analysis challenges to
businesses. Analyzing big data is done using a programming paradigm called MapReduce. The MapReduce paradigm
requires that huge amounts of data be analyzed. The mapping is done concurrently by each separate NAS device; the
mapping requires parallel processing. The parallel processing needs of MapReduce are costly, and require the configuration
noted previously for storage. The processing needs can be met by cloud-service providers.
Big Data is a data analysis methodology enabled by recent advances in technologies and architecture which support high-
velocity data capture, storage, and analysis. However, big data entails a huge commitment of hardware and processing
resources, making adoption costs of big data technology prohibitive to small and medium sized businesses. Cloud computing
offers the promise of big data implementation to small and medium sized businesses. Data sources extend beyond the
traditional corporate database to include email, mobile device output, sensor-generated data, and social media output
Big Data requires huge amounts of storage space. While the price of storage continues to decline, the resource needed to
leverage big data still poses financial difficulties for small to medium sized businesses. A typical big data storage and
analysis infrastructure will be based on clustered network-attached storage (NAS) [14]. Clustered NAS infrastructure requires
configuration of several NAS “pods” with each NAS “pod” comprising of several storage devices connected to an NAS
device [14]. The series of NAS devices are then interconnected to allow massive sharing and searching of data [14].
Data storage using cloud computing is a viable option for small to medium sized businesses considering the use of Big Data
analytic techniques. Cloud computing is on-demand network access to computing resources which are often provided by an
outside entity and require little management effort by the business. A number of architectures and deployment models exists
for cloud computing, and these architectures and models can be used with other technologies and design approaches [15].
Owners of small to medium sized businesses who are unable to afford adoption of clustered NAS technology can consider a
number of cloud computing models to meet their big data needs. Small to medium sized business owners need to consider the
correct cloud computing in order to remain both competitive and profitable.

IV. TYPES OF CLOUDS

In the cloud deployment model, networking, platform, storage, and software infrastructure are provided as services that scale
up or down depending on the demand. The Cloud Computing model has three types of clouds model which are – the public
cloud, the private cloud, and the hybrid cloud.
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Fig. 2. NIST Visual Model of Cloud Computing Definition

i. Public cloud:-
A public cloud is the pay- as-you-go services available to the general public. In this configuration, a business does not own
the core technology resources and services but outsource these to service providers. Public cloud is also considered to be an
external cloud. Public cloud describes cloud computing in the traditional mainstream sense, whereby resources are
dynamically provisioned on a fine-grained, self-service basis over the Internet, via web applications/web services, from an
off-site third-party provider who shares resources and bills on a fine-grained utility computing basis. It is typically based on a
pay-per-use model, similar to a prepaid electricity metering system, whose flexibility caters for spikes in demand for cloud
optimization. Public clouds are less secure than the other cloud models because it places an additional burden of ensuring all
applications and data accessed on the public cloud are not subjected to malicious attacks.

ii. Private cloud:-

A private cloud is internal data center of a business that is not available to the general public but uses cloud structure. In this
configuration, resources and services are owned by the business, with the services accessible within the business through the
intranet and since the technology is owned and operated by the business, this type of cloud is more expensive than a public
cloud. It is also more secure and because of its specified internal exposure, only the organization and designated stakeholders
may have access to operate on a specific Private cloud. A private cloud is an internal cloud residing inside the company’s
firewall and managed by the company.

iii. Hybrid cloud:-

Hybrid cloud is a combination of both public and private cloud, when a company uses a hybrid cloud; it uses a public cloud
for some tasks and a private cloud for other tasks. In this model, a company uses the public cloud to expedite extra tasks that
cannot be easily run in the company’s data center or on its private cloud [1]. A hybrid cloud allows a company to maintain
critical, confidential data and information within it firewall while leveraging the public cloud for non-confidential data. The
private cloud portion of the hybrid cloud is accessed by company employees, both in the company and on the go, and is
maintained by the internal technology group. The private cloud part of the hybrid cloud is also accessed by the company
employees but is maintained by external service providers. Each portion of the hybrid cloud can connect to the other portion.

iv. Community cloud :-

Community cloud is a private cloud that is shared by several customers with similar security concerns and the same data and
applications sensitivity.

V. CLOUD COMPUTING CHALLENGES

Cloud computing is associated with numerous challenges and the major challenges that prevent Cloud Computing from being
adopted are as follows:

i. Security: -
Security issue plays the most important role in hindering Cloud computing acceptance. Security issues such as data loss,
phishing, botnet poses serious threats to organization's data and software. For example, hackers can use Cloud to organize
botnet as Cloud often provides more reliable infrastructure services at a relatively cheaper price for them to start an attack.

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ii. Costing Model: -
Cloud consumers must consider the tradeoffs amongst computation, communication, and integration. While migrating to the
Cloud can significantly reduce the infrastructure cost, it does raise the cost of data communication, i.e. the cost of transferring
an organization's data to and from the public and community Cloud and the cost per unit of computing resource used is likely
to be higher. This problem is particularly prominent if the consumer uses the hybrid cloud deployment model where the
organization's data is distributed amongst a number of public/private (in-house IT infrastructure)/community clouds.

iii. Charging Model:-

The elastic resource pool has made the cost analysis a lot more complicated than regular data centers, which often calculates
their cost based on consumptions of static computing. Moreover, an instantiated virtual machine has become the unit of cost
analysis rather than the underlying physical server. For SaaS cloud providers, the cost of developing multitenancy within
their offering can be very substantial. These include: re-design and redevelopment of the software that was originally used for
single-tenancy, cost of providing new features that allow for intensive customization, performance and security enhancement
for concurrent user access, and dealing with complexities induced by the above changes.

iv. Service Level Agreement (SLA):-

Since cloud consumers do not have control over the underlying computing resources, they do need to ensure the quality,
availability, reliability, and performance of these resources when consumers have migrated their core business functions onto
their entrusted cloud. It is therefore vital for consumers to obtain guarantees from providers on service delivery. Typically,
these are provided through Service Level Agreements (SLAs) negotiated between the providers and consumers. The very first
issue is the definition of SLA specifications in such a way that has an appropriate level of granularity, namely the tradeoffs
between expressiveness and complicatedness, so that they can cover most of the consumer expectations and is relatively
simple to be weighted, verified, evaluated, and enforced by the resource allocation mechanism on the cloud.

VI. BENEFITS OF CLOUD COMPUTING

There are lots of benefits in using Cloud computing to render or access computing resources. Presently a lot of people use
Cloud computing without even knowing what it means. For example, Gmail, Yahoo mail, YouTube, and Skype users…are
all in the Cloud. Increasingly companies and organizations are becoming aware of the huge benefits that Cloud computing
provides. Some of these benefits include:

i. Flexibility and storage: -

With Cloud computing Files are stored in the “Cloud”. This allows for development in the organization because workers no
longer have to worry about the storage of documents. Also, workers can access office files from wherever and whenever.
Workers can also work together virtually even when they are not at the same place at the same time. Various documents can
be viewed simultaneously provided Internet connection is available.

ii. Time saving:-

Alongside easy collaboration, Cloud computing also aids the easy access to information. Easy access in this context could be
seen in how fast it is to access Gmail, Yahoo mail, mailboxes in general. It is fast and easy in contrast to the time it would
take to download and install software.

iii. Reduced Cost:-

Cloud computing puts a stop to the illegal reproduction and distribution of software. Some software on the Cloud is free. For
example, most SaaS solutions have a pay-as-you-go pricing model instead of a large up-front investment. Such pricing
models allow end users to pay only for what they use thus freeing up resources such as time and money for other more
important (core) business activities. Cloud computing is therefore cheaper and less labor intensive for companies. There is no
need to buy and install expensive software. There is no need to acquire, track and manage software licenses.

VII. CONCLUSION
Despite the benefits enumerated, it is surprising that not many companies and organizations are rushing to leverage the
advantages of Cloud computing, especially in developing countries because the benefits of cloud computing are tempered by
two major concerns – security and loss of control. Although Big data and Cloud computing is a new phenomenon which is
set to revolutionize caution must be exercised in the way we use the Internet. There are many new technologies emerging at a
rapid rate, each with improvements in making living much easier for users. However, there is a need for a cost-performance
trade off while deliberating on what type of cloud service to adopt. If the data being processed is considered mission critical
to the company, the more expensive private cloud, implemented in-house, would provide a more secured environment with
the company keeping the mission critical data in-house.
The use of big data could provide sufficient benefit to a small to medium sized company to the extent that the business would
be willing to commit resources to implement big data technology in-house. However, the level of benefit is difficult to
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determine without some experience. Cloud computing implementation of big data has the potential to become a frontrunner
in promoting a secure, virtual and economically viable IT solution in the future.
Cloud computing may proof to be a better option for most businesses down the line. Indicators show that more people are
beginning to understand what it entails, how it works and its usefulness. But still, the fear of surrendering absolute control of
core business operations and processes to the Cloud still remains a nagging issue that will only go away in the future.
Although it will be extremely difficult to provide a complete solution to securing the Cloud in relative terms thereby
completely erasing the anxiety and disquiet which the idea of outsourcing key and crucial business operations, and
technology may create. Security measures such as data encryption is advised and should be employed by end-users to reduce
the fear and risk of data invasion. If the fear of Cloud computing are addressed, Cloud computing will revolutionize the world
of information technology, even in developing countries Cloud computing promises real benefits to companies seeking a
competitive edge in today’s economy.

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